UNSC Spirit of Fire (AAO)
Vessel History Years adrift The Spirit of Fire was left adrift for many years in which she was able to note multiple stellar objects for research should she ever be found. One a possible Forerunner hulk that was slowly drifiting towards a gas giant. The Spirit of Fire was also victim to multiple asteroid impacts, however the service drones were able to salvage raw materials from these asteroids to assist in basic reapirs to these hull breaches. Near Destruction Upon her rediscovery the Spirit of Fire was fitted with the Forerunner slipspace drive and taken into orbit of Mars, where she was scheduled for disassembly. Weeks passed as she drifted in the planet’s orbit, the breaking down of her hull being met by both the public and some UNSC officials. Research and Development proposal Many Research and military contracts took an interest in the vessel, her modular system- Original meant for easy disassembly- allowing for most of her subsystems to be replaced with ease. Bids for the vessel had been offered to the breakers company in the region of a Billion credits, this meaning the vessel was now worth more than the sum of it’s parts. After nearly a year since it’s arrival to Mars the UNSC gave clearance for it to be purchased by Ptolemaios research foundation- After serious behind the scene chats with ONI which had been Contracting Ptolemaios for research. Retrofit Upon it’s arrival in earth orbit, plans had already been made for the vessel to be repaired before being taken down to ground shipyards where she would spend an estimated 6 months in the advanced Clyde Shipyard. This had been arranged though various back room chats to full blown black mail of ONI and UNSC higher-ups. By late 2572 The Spirit of Fire,after completing her re-entry the vessel was docked in Clyde Shipyard undergoing the final stages of it’s overhaul with most electronics being replaced. New construction modules replaced the older ones, the cargo bays being emptied of vehicles, some prototypes being Stored for research purposes. The Spirit of Fire’s point defence turrets had been replaced, their numbers being upped to 100, their overall coverage improved. All 22 Deck guns had been stripped, replaced with Rapid Fire Gauss Cannons, designed to inflict heavy damage at close range. Two deck guns emplacements were left over for prototype weapons based upon the Spartan Laser- These weapons being untested pre-launch. A total of 300 Archer pods were also installed throughout the hull to provide a greater defence. Test Flight Following the completion of her upgrades the vessel was assigned to an inner-colony patrol group, being assigned a UNSC crew whilst still reamining under control of the research group. Her first battle with a Brute cruiser resulted in victory, this also allowed for the Gauss Ripid fire cannons to be tested at close range. However the Main reactor was unable to provide the large amounts of energy to power all her weapons to combat operations level, the vessel's AI needing to deivse a power distribution system to deal with the issue. Following this the Spirit continued its tour, her weapon systems yet to be truly tested. The Ptolemaios Research group has been pushing for a tour close to the front lines, using their ONI and UNSC contacts to pull strings to do so. External structure Power issues The Vessel is unable to provide the large amounts of power required to operate all weapon systems at hull power, requiring the onboard AI to create a power distrbution system to allow for continued combat operations. This issue will be dealt with upon return to Ptolemaios for the second round of upgrades to her new weapon systems to allow for increased combat possibilites. Prototypes Installed The First Refit The Spirit of Fire was upgraded with the latest in Forerunner inspired Slipspace engines and a software and sensor array removed from a progenitor keeper. Multi-Block energy shielding The Vessel's shields are made of multiple hexagonal screens that are interconnected to for a full shield matrix around the spirit of fire. These Blocks have the ability to disconnect from each other and move though the use of the various shield emmiters built into the hull to areas where they are needed. This system allows for Shields to be layered one atop the other to create a greater barrier against plasma weaponry and is able to absorb some kenetic energy for a Mac round along stonger lines of a sheild emmiters. Plasma Torpedo Launchers x4. Salvaged from a covenant cruiser and upgraded though schematics given by Cortana. These Prototypes have been installed into the vessels undercarriage. However due to the amount of power they require these systems have been disabled. This weapon was similar to that of the average Torpedo weapon fitted to a Cruiser. This however meant the a plasma containment tank had to be fitted to store it. Prototype Laser Cannon x2 Using the basic schematic of the Spartan Laser, ONI scientists developed a prototype frame that was designed to test the basic idea, however requiring large amounts of power. Two Cannons are present on the vessel’s Gun deck. These Cannons are a large single cannon fitted with a large firing matrix that must be replaced after 5 shots. Research teams are attempting to develop a newer Matrix to allow for extended life span. This Cannon fires a continuous beam that maintains for a total of 20 seconds, depending on the ammount of energy diverted to the weapon. The estimated damage is capable of depleting a HCW CCS class Battlecruiser's shield in one shot or causing critical damage to the vessels super structure. Rapid Fire Gauss Deck Turret x 20 Designed by Ptolemios research division these weapons are designed to fire a volley of Gauss shells. Damage inflicted on a Frigate frame confirms large amount of damage can be inflicted at close range. Combined together their firepower can act as a defensive screen as well as a long range cannon. Calculated a single cannon fires at a rate of 120 rounds per minute. The Rapid Fire Gauss cannon can create a screen of covering fire using Shrapnel rounds that litter the battle field, this along with explosive rounds allow for the vessel to be defended against fighters and the ability to damage vessels at close range. PoA inspired MAC cannon x2 Upon removal of the vessels large, outdated MAC cannon technical crews were able to install Two Modern, compact PoA inspired cannons in the original Cannon frame. These cannons have the same 3 rounds per shot system. However this weapon systems requires a large amount of power to be diverted from other systems otherwise a slow charge must be preformed, building up the charge slowly to firing level whilst allowing for other combat systems to reamin active. Advanced sensor and Jamming systems Many advanced systems were installed aboard the Spirit of Fire, many being based upon Forerunner or Progenitor technology. Such systems include the latest Computer control systems and various sensor suites. Quantum Wave front detector By taking systems from the salvaged Progenitor Keeper core. Tests have concluded that the advanced sensors allow detection for various rips in space. It has also been hypothesized that the vessel can enter slipspace in orbit of a gas giant. This system however can be further exploited as the Wave front system is the vital component to Progenitor keeper phasing system and could, with modifications to the Slipspace drive to allow for the vessel to enter a Slipspace bubble. Other technical options may allow for the vessel to track a covenant vessel with further ease, recording ruptures in slipspace and calculating the tragactory and exit vector for a mirco-jump. Plasma Torpedo Jamming New Jamming equipment was provided by ONI to test, allowing for the vessel to collapse the EM containment field around the Plasma. This is however unwise, risking plasma spilling across the entire hull rather than a single contained section. This system can only be used on one torpedo at a time and requires a large prosessing amount. The Test for the device were underwent on the UNSC Irvine and confirmed that the device could colapse one EM containment field, this requiring however the vessel's main navigational array to use. Alas this system is not perfect, should their be a significant amount of debris in the battlefield the Array cannot operate. External Hull coating The entire vessel has been coated with a layer of ‘E-Carbon’, a plasma resistant substance that is both Expensive and difficult to manufacture. The Substance also acts to strengthen the already present Titanium A battle plate. The basic behind the coating strenghtens the Titanium A coating by filling gaps in the Atomic structure, allowing for the vessel to take more of a beating, rather than having the vessel needing the entire outer hall to be replaced with much thicker armour. Remote Guidance Shield Drones Developed in secret by Ptolemaios these Defence systems consists of a basic thruster frame attached with a shield Generator plate. The Frame was affixed to a Titanium A battle plate that is capable of interconnecting and generating a field in unison, these provide a large plasma absorption plate. The Shield generator is ejected upon the main destruction of a Plate. Multiple Drones are present in a lower hanger bay, designed to be made easily, the shield Matrix easy to hook up to new units. These Drones operate by moving in 'Packs', interconnecting with fellow units and combining their shield matrix and power generation abilities to generate a Sheild layer over the Titanium A battleplate. Upon contect with the Plasma torpedo the rear skeleton structure ejects and returns to the vessel to be fitted to another battleplate and continue operation.